After riding all three back to back the Malavita is the overall stiffest. The frames of the Mala and Gen are the same and a littlse softer than the Cartel becaue of the Hinge. But with the way the Hinge works, though it softens them up a bit tip to tail, they're both still a little more responsive. The hinge lets you direct more energy to the tips.

Genesis:
The best way I can find to decribe the highback is all the benefits of a urethane back without any of the faults. You dont feel it on your boot but its there 100% when you drive into it. When you push through the side it does give, so compared to its "predecessor" the Prophecy it is not as aggressive or responsive. With the way Burtons Flying V works this isnt too much of an issue though. With the extra bit of rocker outside the camber zone you're really directed more towards driving the board with centered weight. So you aren't really driving into the outside of the highback much since when you try you just sort of wash out unless your super on top of it and in grippy conditions. So, these are a comfy responsive all mountain freestyle binding. On a cambered deck or something you can really drive into the tail on the highback will be more of a factor.

Cartel:
It rides softer. Like with the Genesis it isnt really different driving through turns on Flying V. Where you feel the softness is playing around on your tips. In my opinion for Burtons direction this is exactly what they needed to do with the Cartel. The last couple years its been more an all mountain/freereide feel, giving it just a bit of softness to the inside brought it back to the all mountain/ freestyle killer it used to be. In my opinion it is the best Cartel yet. Without the hinge it just felt like a more precise ride and for a higher end jumper the hingeless frame I think makes more sense. Its just a bit more accurate.

Malaita:
The whole idea of riding your ankle strap a click or two looser because of the hammock is sound. I felt more comfortable in the binding that way and felt like it rode more the way it was designed. In reality this was the stiffest of the three. The highback just makes that difference. Again, on Flying V you really only notice it when playing around. It's stiffer to the inside and makes for manipulating the board more powerful. For the higher end park rider that likes a bit more of a skate pop these are money. Otherwise they are a great do anything binding with a good chunk of response and a dash of playability with the Hinge.

ReFlex:
This changes some things. I didnt ride the ReFlex version, but the Mala and Gen have the same baseplate. So in realtion to each other they just both get an equal amount stiffer. Not much, just a hair really. But with the Cartel since it doesnt have Hinge in EST the overall feel of the binding is more or less just the difference between EST and ReFlex. So since the Mala and Gen get a bit more precise and the Cartel basically stays the same, the relation between the three changes between EST and ReFlex.

Overall how I'd categorize the three:
Malavita EST-High end park rider that likes a little more skatey pop or a general all mountain comfy ride.
Malavita ReFlex-High end parkk rider, solid comfy all mountain ride.
Cartel EST-park destroyer who knows what they're doing and wants some precison.
Cartel Reflex-Park destroyer who likes some more play in the highback.
Genesis EST-Rides everything, long days, and not afraid to spend $$.
Genesis ReFlex-Responsive binding for someone that liked the idea of a urethane highback but thought they were just a bit too loose.

For matchups with decks I think the Cartle and Gen depend on how the board is meant to be ridden. They'll feel softer on boards you drive into the tips more with and "stiffer" on boards you stay more centered on. Straight back the response between the two was minutely different with the Gen being just bairly more relaxed. The two part back and all.

good reviews. one thing though, the hinge was just brought in to mimic the natural flex disc bindings provide, I'm not sure there is a noticeable difference between a hinge est binding and a reflex binding.

I don't know whether or not that's true, but they ride with a little more flex tip to tail than ReFlex. That's always been clear to me. I rode this years ReFlex Missions R's all last year with the 30% short glass frame. I can feel the bit of give in the Hinge on the Mala and Gen compared to the solid frame Reflex.

Awesome review man. I've been waiting for a comprehensive review of these three bindings. The 'Vitas used to be more park and now they seem to be the stiffest? The lineup is a bit murky (spec and purpose wise) and I suspect they will make things more clearcut next year.

Not great. It's two parts are fairly thin, so it will be more prone to snapping if you forget to kick it down. If you've broken a fair share of highbacks I'd be wary. Only time will tell with these. They are comfy and very enjoyable to be in.

Where does the Cartel Restricted stack up? Seems to have the "Asym React Strap" like the Malavitas! So I'm guessing it's more comfort!

I got the Cartel Restricted to mount on my Travis Rice mainly for park jumps and playing around tricks, trees and stuff. That and the occasional speed runs when I see open trails (not much of a rails/boxes guy anyway).

Burton web site lists the Malavitas as more park oriented and the Cartels as an all mountain!!!! But by hand flexing both I got the feeling the Cartels were more flexi vs the Malavitas and not the other way around!

I have the 2011 cartels and they are great for freeride and have enough play for a little freestyle. I do very little park so mostly 3s and tweaked grabs of natural hits, a few presses too.

I am looking to get some new bindings and thinking 13 cartels.

I realize they will be a lot more freestyle in flex but can they can still be stable and responsive enough for some more serious freeride?

Also considering NOWs.

Any thoughts Nivek?

If I had the chance I'd grab NOW's. They're super rad. The new Cartel will handle freeriding fine. They will stand the most trouble on a stiff full camber deck. If you're freeriding on something hybrid like a Heritage or Flagship or something you wont notice the softer highback all that much. Only when you really get onto the tips. Its a personal preference thing. If you're in deeper snow a lot a little give up top is great. If you're mostly doing sketchy shoots with chopped up out-runs you probably want something stiffer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dice

very nice review! Thank you.

Where does the Cartel Restricted stack up? Seems to have the "Asym React Strap" like the Malavitas! So I'm guessing it's more comfort!

I got the Cartel Restricted to mount on my Travis Rice mainly for park jumps and playing around tricks, trees and stuff. That and the occasional speed runs when I see open trails (not much of a rails/boxes guy anyway).

Burton web site lists the Malavitas as more park oriented and the Cartels as an all mountain!!!! But by hand flexing both I got the feeling the Cartels were more flexible vs the Malavitas and not the other way around!

Cheers...

I haven't ridden the Restricted Version of this years Cartel, but I have ridden the Asym Strap at length. For me the react strap was just better. Same comfort, better wrap, and more support. Both are good though. The one nice thing about the asym is you can sorta customize your support. By switching the straps between bindings you can put the high section above or below the ratchet. Above is more support, below is less. Less is more forgiving and better for getting onto your tips, more is better for driving into your tips. Your choice.

Though the site lists the Cartel as stiffer, they aren't. The EST versions are fairly comparable as the hinge gives the Malavita a little more play in the base and the softer highback on the Cartel gives more play up top. But when you move to ReFlex the Malavita gets "stiffer" by losing the hinge, and the Cartel doesn't change. So for Reflex I'd have to say the Malavita will perform stiffer than the Cartel.

On a T.Rice you won't notice too much of a difference. It's a twin and center rocker so you aren't driving REALLY hard into the corners of the top of the highbacks. Cartels are lighter. So boom.